Ep. 1: Assault!! Run to the Ballpark
is the first episode of Battle Fever J. This premiere episode marked the revival of Super Sentai following the original two Sentai series, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai, the first new production since the epilogue J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai vs. Gorenger (released on March 18th 1978), and the return of Sentai to television since the finale of J.A.K.Q. (aired on December 24th 1977), having had its run cut short, and the first series without franchise co-founder Shotaro Ishinomori. It also notably introduces a concept that will be the key factor to change the franchise starting from this series' fifth episode. Synopsis A series of murders of high officials forces the Battle Fever squadron into action, increasing their arsenal as well as accept in new member Diane Martin. Plot A series of murders of high officials by a woman carrying a poison tipped red umbrella has Tetsuzan Shogun call together 4 Dept. of Defense agents. When they track down and catch a woman with a red umbrella, she turns out to be Diane Martin, an FBI agent from America trying to flush out the assassin. She and her father, Mr. Foster, have come to Japan pursuing Egos, a secret terrorist cult lead by the evil Satan Egos, that has wreaked havoc across the world. However, before Mr. Foster is able to return to America, he is killed by the assassin. Heartbroken, Diane joins the other 4 agents, as Miss America, to avenge her father’s death. They are given special suits that enhance their combat abilities to fight the evil Egos and become Battle Fever! Cast * Narrator: Toru Ohira * Masao Den: Hironori Tanioka * Kensaku Shiraishi: Yukio Itou * Kyousuke Shida: Narimitsu Kurachi * Shirou Akebono: Kenji Ohba * Diane Martin: Diane Martin ** Diane Martin (Voice): Lisa Komaki * General Kurama Tetsuzan: Chiyonosuke Azuma * Commander Hedder: Kenji UshioOriginal version only. Subsequent airings and releases have replaced Kenji Ushio by Masashi Ishibashi. Stunt Actors * Battle Japan: Kazuo Niibori * Battle Cossack: Hiroshi Atsum and Hirohumi Koga * Battle France: Haruhiko Hashimoto and Tetsuo Mashita * Battle Kenya: Kenji Ohba and Tsutomu Kitagawa * Miss America: Lisa Komaki, Eiko Onodera and Tsutomu Kitagawa Notes *This is the first Sentai episode which airs at the timeslot of 6:00PM on Saturday evenings; it will remain in this spot (even with some slight airing time adjustments) until the thirty-first episode of Turboranger. *This episode as one of the first seven episodes (bar 4 and 6), which had Kenji Ushio playing Commander Hedder, was edited so that Ushio was replaced by Masashi Ishibashi as Hedder after he replaced him in the role starting from episode 9. *Though not fully introduced, the Battle Fever Robo is seen under construction in the first episode. *The Marvel universe where BFJ occurred (Earth-79203) is created from the date this first episode was aired. ("79203" = 19'79', February (2') 3rd ('03)). *The human form of the Umbrella Monster is portrayed by Eri Kanuma, who previously portrayed Yoko Katou (Agent 007) in Gorenger. DVD releases Battle Fever J Volume 1 features episodes 1-11. http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/bfj.html References Category:Sentai episodes Category:Season Premieres Category:Written by Susumu Takaku